UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock announced through a press release on his website that he’ll be duking it out against James Quinn in a bare knuckle boxing match, scheduled to take place sometime this April in the United Kingdom.

Here is an excerpt from the statement:

“Shamrock is in great health and feels invigorated by this opportunity to continue to compete and to continue giving back to his fans. Shamrock is going back to his roots as a fighter. Knowing his body well, Shamrock knows that his decision to re-enter the ring for the love of this sport is a sound decision. Shamrock adamantly believes that age should never be a restriction to any athlete. People can do amazing feats past their prime, if it’s a priority to them.

“Shamrock knows that bare-knuckle boxing is a sport with great potential to grow well beyond where the sport is today. His involvement in this sport is to show support and help its success.”

Now, apart from the hilariousness that is Shamrock building his entire website to announce this news, complete with sections devoted to limited merchandise, “Youth Outreach,” and “Shamrock’s Businesses” (including sections like Yes. I Am Learning The Stock Trade, the Shamrock Slam: Technical Fitness Drink, and Profit 101: Self-Defense & Fitness, all under the “Get Stuff” tab, we’re hoping this does happen (because at this point, who the hell cares anymore), yet we’re not exactly holding out for our hero…

Good morning, Nation. How was your weekend? I spent mine cleaning teeth out of a urinal trough at the particularly seedy bar at which I am also employed as a custodial engineer. What can I say? Writing base-level insults about MMA fighters don’t pay what it used to, that’s for sure.

Uneventful and depressing as my weekend may have been, it certainly couldn’t have gone worse than that of German kickboxer Roman Palamar, who wound up on the wrong end of a highlight reel knockout at the Superkombat World Grand Prix in Romania on Saturday. (The sound you just heard was me absolutely nailing that transition, BTW.)

Paired up against Romanian Alex Filip, who sported a professional record of just 1-0, the 18-2 Palamar was heavily favored to come away with the win and was more than holding his own against his older opponent through the first round. That was, until Filip deciding to channel his inner Peter Graham and unleash a Rolling Thunder kick that landed flush on Palamar’s jaw and put him down and out.

Check out a video and gif of the absolutely stunning KO after the jump.

(Marco Ruas and Paul Varelans: When men were men, knuckles were bare, and wearing a singlet was totally acceptable.)

As thrilling as the UFC can be in the 21st century — with its well-rounded, well-conditioned fighters and deep talent pools — there’s something special about the Wild West days of the 1990s. Back then, the UFC featured a motley crew of martial artists of varying skill levels, some of whom didn’t really look like professional athletes. This was the era of single-night tournaments, non-existent weight classes, and burping into microphones. It’s hard not to miss those days.

Today we pay tribute to the old-school with some of our favorite rare and classic UFC photos from the ’90s. Check ‘em out in the gallery after the jump, and if we’ve left out any of your favorites, let us know in the comments section or on twitter.

We here at CagePotato.com aren’t the types to say “We told you so,” which is convenient, because we couldn’t even gather enough interest in BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar III to mock it beforehand. The fight ended predictably; Penn continued to be no match for Edgar, and “The Prodigy” hinted at yet another retirement from MMA after it was over. Given the trilogy’s one-sided nature and predictable ending, we’re tempted to call it the most pointless trilogy in our sport’s history. But doing so would do the following trilogies a grave injustice:

Bryan Robinson vs. Andrew Reinard

A quick glance at the record of every ironman in MMA will reveal multiple victories over fighters who can best be described as “victims” and “warm bodies.” Reinard is Exhibit A: You can watch his entire three-fight career in only forty-eight seconds.
[Author Note: Robinson vs. Reinard is a stand-in for every pointless trilogy that other MMA ironmen have been involved in. Coincidentally, Robinson himself accounts for seven (?!?) of Travis Fulton's career victories.]

It might be hard to believe when looking at him now, but there was a time not too long ago when Tim Sylvia was paid money to compete in physical activities. I know right? I’m seriously. It was the mid-2000′s, and ”The Maine-iac” weighed in at a svelte 265 pounds. He was also the UFC Heavyweight champion, but looking back, I think the former accomplishment is arguably more impressive than the latter.

Regardless, after testing positive for stanozolol in his second title defense over Gan McGee at UFC 44, Sylvia would voluntarily relinquish his belt in disgrace*…and wind up receiving an immediate fight against Frank Mir for the belt he had just vacated at UFC 48 on June 19th, 2004 — ten years ago today.

However, now that Shammy has achieved financial security as a bodyguard to the stars, it appears as if he has entered the “making amends” phase of his 12-step recovery, so to speak. TMZ Sports is reporting that, following a 45-minute phone conversation, White and Shamrock have finally ended their long-standing feud.

Dana tells us, “Ken Shamrock and I spoke and we have squashed our beef.”

As for Shamrock … he says the call wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows — they addressed some tough issues — but in the end, were able to come to an understanding and decided to bury the hatchet.

“It’s bigger than us. It’s good for the UFC. It’s good for the fans.”

You hear that, guys? This means Shamrock can finally get that UFC fight he is owed! I am on pins and needles waiting for the UFC to announce UFC 180: Shamrock vs. Liddell — sponsored by Enzyte, Activia, and the Committee to Stop Those Punk Kids From Skateboarding on the Sidewalks. WHO YOU GOT?

Earlier this week, Shamrock was spotted at CES working as a bodyguard for rapper/headphone mogul 50 Cent. There was no Ken Shamrock autograph line. No Shamrock-branded iPhone case, thank God. Just an aging tough guy in a shiny suit, keeping his eyes open in case shit jumped off. After the above photo surfaced on twitter, Shammy tweeted to Fitty, “it’s been a pleasure working with you and your team, you are by far one of the classiest gents I have ever worked with. God bless.”

It was thirty-three years ago today that the absolutely tragic bout between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes went down — where a younger, far more athletic Larry Holmes beat the aging legend so badly that he actually cried for Ali when it was over. Though Ali is still celebrated as one of the greatest fighters of all time, his legacy has never been the same as it could have been if he simply stayed retired. It’s in memory of this fight that we’ll be talking about falls from grace during today’s roundtable: fighters who stuck around far too long, lost some embarrassing bouts as a result and tarnished their once-great legacies. Read on for our picks, and please continue to send your ideas for future CagePotato Roundtable topics to tips@cagepotato.com.

Tim Sylvia: A name once synonymous with greatness, excitement, and extraordinary physique. Once atop the Mount Olympus of the sport, he reigned supreme over lesser beings for roughly four years, vanquishing the best of the best in his weight class. OK, so maybe I’m exaggerating here. So maybe Tim Sylvia was never exactly a world beater; he was awkward, plodding, fat, had no real ground game to speak of and was the UFC heavyweight champion when all the best fighters in the division were busy competing across the Pacific ocean.

But for all that, he was the heavyweight champion. He even had sex with his greatest rival’s ex-girlfriend. (Leading to this glorious interview with said rival, Andrei Arlovski.) He was relatively wealthy, at least compared to other fighters. Point being, he had achieved all someone who came into this world as Tim Sylvia could possibly hope to achieve. Even once he had lost the title, he still retained the respect that was deservedly owed to him.